what starter?

[Reiltin]

Doing Xmas dinner for the first time - like a proper grown-up! Having trouble with starters. I want something not too labour-intensive and that goes with the traditional Turkey dinner. (My phone capitalised Turkey but it seemed apt so I didn't change it!). What starter do you do that works? Thanks!

Another vote for prawn cocktail.

Smoked salmon is Christmas breakfast food here, along with scrambled egg.

According to DH we must have prawn cocktail otherwise it's not Christmas. Is be happy without a starter so can eat more dinner

We always have smoked salmon in some form. I thought that was the Christmas law!!!

I buy pate for my fussy non fish eating DH.

I just like something light so would never opt for soup. I like smoked salmon, prawns, figs with parma ham, oysters.

We don't do starters either :)

We have French toast with bucks fizz about 10ish and then we have main dinner about 3 and desert while watching a movie about 8ish

We tend to have salmon or some sort (smoked, hot smoked, poached etc) but if you're not into it, one of the starters that proved a bit hit when I did it here (and now we tend to have at new Year) is pear, walnut and blue cheese salad: a few salad leaves, chopped up pear, crumbled blue cheese of your choice, a sprinkling of walnuts and a drizzle of walnut oil.

Fill up on crisps and Xmas canapés and go straight to main

We tend to have little parcels of a few baby asparagus wrapped around the middle with pancetta bacon (sometimes with a sprig of rosemary in too) drizzled with balsamic vinegar and bunged in the oven 15 minutes before we eat them. (By then turkey is out, so have more room to play with.)

My mum did baked camembert one year which is very easy but tasty. Quite filling though.

I got fois gras one year too - although obviously that's not for everyone

How about just a nice platter of parma ham, salamis etc? I must say we never ever do starter on xmas day, I need more room for my Chocolate Roulade!

Those that do, how does it work? Surely the cook needs to be in kitchen - how can you finish cooking the dinner if you're sat down eating your prawn cocktail?

Starter is plated up beforehand then eaten after the gravy is made and while meat is resting and veg are steaming.

I dislike going straight from one course to another without a short breather, and getting the meat, veg and gravy in serving dishes is a reasonable break. DH clears away first course while I'm getting the second ready in the kitchen.

70, we once had a Christmas dinner at my DM's which started at 3pm and we were still at the table at 10. It was great - we had a course (and some wine), chatted, helped clear, wandered into the kitchen to make gravy and fetch and carry, ate our main courses, decided we were all quite full, had a game of cards (at the table), chatted some more, did pudding, then cheese, then finished off with a round of liqueurs.

Then we rolled ourselves into the sitting room and stayed there looking bilious for a couple of hours...

Anyway, back on topic - what about an M&S seafood platter? Or canapés instead of a formal starter?

And the good thing about a cold starter is that It can be plated up well in advance. You can do all the other cooking around it; meat should be resting, potatoes finishing in the oven, veg can be kept warm - all you need to do is the gravy which is fine as long as you have helpers to sort out bringing in empty starter plates and taking out the new food while you get on with that!

We never have a starter... I think mainly because everyone likes the main too much (there is always PLENTY) and what with pudding afterwards (usually quite a lot afterwards!) there's enough food without doing a starter. I will be putting cheese and biscuits out afterwards, though.

Depends. THe last couple of years I've done a gin cured gravadlax and blinis. The year before we has parma ham and mozzarella with some figs. This year I might bin starters and do three or four nibbley things at lunch then a big gap for the main at three.

Well, I've just got really overexcited on ocado doing my festive order. At this rate we might be having 4 starters.